Razors adapted to movably support a blade or a disposable cartridge, commonly referred to as vibrating razors, are well known. Various mechanical arrangements have been devised for causing the rapid movement of the entire razor, a shaving head holding a disposable cartridge, or only a razor blade mounted on or within the razor. Typically, the blade or cartridge is disposed on a support to which movement is imparted.
Early versions of vibrating razors tended to be cumbersome and required external drive sources to impart movement to the blades or blade supports.
One well-known arrangement, herein referred to as the "eccentric weight" type razor, incorporates a weight which is eccentrically mounted on a rotating shaft such as the shaft of an electric motor. The rapid rotation of the eccentrically mounted weight provides a generally elliptical movement to the entire razor. In this type of razor, the entire razor, including the handle, moves in an elliptical path. It is actually the inability of the person holding the razor to hold the razor still which results in movement of the blade during shaving.
Other types of vibrating razors impart a movement to a disposable cartridge or blade in a direction which is not parallel to the plane of the surface being shaved. An example of this type of vibrating razor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,892 to Ishida. The Ishida razor drives the cartridge obliquely relative to the blade edge.
Many of the vibrating razors known in the art, including the "eccentric weight" type razors, do not impart movement directly to the blade or cartridge support. In such razors, the blade or cartridge is not positively or directly driven by the electric motor. Another example of a vibrating razor which does not directly impart movement to the cartridge support is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,330 to Fenn, et al. The Fenn razor comprises a hollow shaver head resiliently mounted on a handle. The hollow shaver head has a pivotally mounted weight disposed therein which is driven by an electric motor. When the motor is energized and the weight is caused to oscillate within the hollow shaver head, the shaver head rocks relative to the handle due to the inertia imparted by the oscillating weight. The shaver head of the Fenn patent is not directly driven by the electric motor and, therefore, could remain still relative to the handle while the electric motor continues to drive the pivotally mounted weight.
It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a self-contained vibrating razor wherein a motor directly imparts movement to a blade or disposable cartridge razor in a plane substantially parallel to the surface which is being shaved.